


Summer state of mind

by CarlaDuquette



Category: Elite (TV)
Genre: But only a little, Carla getting sh!t done, F/M, Friendship, Happy ending though!, It was nice while it lasted, Lowkey drama, Pre-Canon, Summer Vacation, honest attempt at fluff and fun, short-lived attempt at fluff and fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28854060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlaDuquette/pseuds/CarlaDuquette
Summary: 15-year-old Carla, Polo, Lu and Guzman spend a week on Majorca with Carla's parents and Polo's moms.Or: Laughter, make-out sessions, silly drinking games, serious conversations, ER visits, swimming, hiking, friendship, love and just kids being fucking kids for once.EDIT: And introspection and angst because I just cannot help myself. But at least no murder!
Relationships: Carla Rosón Caleruega & Guzmán Nunier Osuna, Carla Rosón Caleruega & Lucrecia "Lu" Montesinos Hendrich, Carla Rosón Caleruega/Leopoldo "Polo" Benavent Villada, Guzmán Nunier Osuna & Leopoldo "Polo" Benavent Villada, Lucrecia "Lu" Montesinos Hendrich & Leopoldo "Polo" Benavent Villada, Lucrecia "Lu" Montesinos Hendrich/Guzmán Nunier Osuna
Comments: 27
Kudos: 22





	1. Polo

Polo was doing his best cycling up the damn hill as fast as he could, but Guzman still passed him.

"See you later, suckers," Lu shouted from the back of Guzman's bike.

Carla was shrieking and hitting his back, but Polo could see that he didn't stand a chance. All the conditioning Guzman did for the swim team gave him an unfair advantage. Polo was panting and had to work hard to not tip over and send him and Carla down the side of this god-forsaken mountain (yes, this definitely qualified as a _mountain_ , screw Carla and her "Majorca has these beautiful hills right off the beach" tourist guidebook spiel she gave him on the plane ride over). They were finally nearing the top and he could hear Guzman's laugh over Lu yelling "Don't slow down now, they're right behind us!"

Polo noticed that he really was making up ground. When they made it to the top on his bike, he could see why. The downslope was a lot steeper than the way up and Guzman was hitting the breaks so as not to wipe out on the pebbly path. But to absolutely no one's surprise, Lu wasn't having it. When Carla had suggested earlier they take the bikes and explore the "hills" behind the beach for a bit, Lu had pushed her sunglasses up into her hair and looked at Carla like she had lost her mind. She planned on "staying on this beach chair until it's time for dinner," Lu had informed them, then turned onto her stomach. "Plus we only brought two bikes." The boys had pushed them the short walk from the vacation home Carla's and Polo's parents were renting to the beach so they wouldn't have to lug the heavy bags holding their towels, snacks, sun block and whatever else Lu and Carla had decided they couldn't do without.

But then Carla had casually suggested they could make it a race and Polo had known immediately that his girlfriend would get her will. Everyone knew Lu couldn't resist a competition. That's why the four of them were now going down the mountain, Carla clinging to his waist and loudly saying "Don't you dare" when Polo let go of the breaks for a second. Guzman and Lu on the other hand were picking up speed. Polo saw it a split-second before it happened and yelled out, but it was too late - Guzman's front tire hit a large stone at considerable speed and sent the entire bike jerking sideways. In another situation, Polo probably would've been fascinated by the physics of it. 

Guzman went flying over the handlebars and managed to land somewhat gracefully on his hands and knees. Lu was thrown off the back and, because they were just hitting one of the windy path's many bends, skidded down the side of the hill a couple of feet. "Shit." Polo let go of the breaks as much as he dared. This time Carla didn't complain, just alternated between "Oh my God" and "Go, go, go!" Polo didn't have to see her face to know she was scared. He tried not to panic, but if Carla was scared… 

When they got to where Guzman's bike was lying in the dirt, Carla jumped off and started running down the hill. Polo's heart was hammering in his chest, and not just from cycling up a fucking mountain. He let his bike fall to the side and made it to Guzman just as he was slowly getting up. "Are you ok??"

"Yeah, yeah, fine." Guzman's knees were bloody, but he just brushed the dust off his shorts, then looked around frantically. Polo grabbed his arm and dragged him down the side of the hill to where Carla was helping Lu sit up. Before they'd made it all the way there, Polo could hear Carla yelling.

"What is wrong with you? Are you fucking crazy?" He was relieved - if Carla had decided Lu was well enough to be shouted at, it couldn't be too serious. The glance she threw their way when she heard them coming down the hill stopped him dead in tracks, though. Angry Carla scared him, even when the anger was directed at someone else. Polo did not envy Guzman right now.

"You dumbass!" Carla's eyes were blazing. She had turned her fear into fury in no time. "Do you realize what could've happened? Maybe use your fucking bird brain before you race down a mountain," - a mountain! Polo filed this away for later - "and don't just do what she tells you to!"

Carla looked like she had more to say, but closed her mouth when Guzman rushed straight past her and knelt down next to Lu. Polo had to bite his tongue to not warn him about smacking his bloody knees right back into the dirt. They'd take care of cleaning any and all wounds as soon as they got home, and Guzman did not seem too worried about that right now. His eyes were scanning Lu's body and stopped at the gash on her arm and the tear in her jeans shorts. "I didn't see it, Lu, I'm so sorry." 

The wobbling, the high pitch - Polo knew that voice. It meant Guzman was trying hard not to cry. Apparently Lu could tell, too. She tried to smile and took his hand to pull herself up. Guzman was on his feet immediately, but Lu only got to "Don't worry, see, all go-" before she let out a whimper and leaned forward into Guzman's arms.

From one moment to the next, all the anger was gone from Carla's face, replaced by wide-eyed concern. Polo placed a hand between her shoulder blades for comfort and could feel her leaning into it for the briefest moment before she stepped next to Guzman.

"What is it? Where does it hurt?"

Lu's eyes were squeezed shut as she pointed at her ankle. Probably a sprain, Polo thought, seeing as it looked to be about the size of a tennis ball. Guzman whispered something into her ear, then picked her up and carried her back to the path. Carla had recovered by the time they joined them and was able to tell them what to do next: Guzman would bike back to the house with Lu ("hurry up, but be careful this time!"), while she and Polo would walk, taking the mangled bike with them.

It wasn't rocket science, but Polo was grateful for the direction anyway - they needed Carla to take charge. Guzman was laser-focused on looking strong for Lu, the only sign of how upset he was his wobbling lower lip. Lu herself seemed to slowly realize how much pain she was actually in after the initial shock, if her pale face was anything to go by. And Polo had been looking to his right, to Carla, before making any decision of consequence for the past three years. Coming up with a plan himself in a crisis like this seemed as absurd to him as telling fire fighters what to do while his house was going up in flames.

They had just deposited Lu on the back of the bike, with Guzman poised to take off and Polo already turning away to pick up the other bike, when Lu called out for them to wait.

"What is it?" Carla asked urgently. "Is this not working, do you want Guzman to carry you instead?" Polo could already see the wheels behind her green eyes turning again.

Lu shook her head. "No." She winced as she tried to find a comfortable position on the back of the bike. "Just, before we leave- Guzman and I were faster. I know we didn't make it all the way to the foot of the next hill like we said, but… we still won, right?"

***

They ended up in less trouble than Polo would have thought. His moms had already left for the ER with Lu and Guzman by the time he and Carla had made it back. Sure, there'd been a talking to from Teodoro, but since it was more about common sense and responsibility in general and not any of his own flaws in particular, Polo had made it through the lecture ok.

Now he and Carla were hanging out by the pool, waiting for the others to get back. Carla was nestled into his side, absentmindedly playing with the buttons on his shirt. She hadn't said anything since they had come outside. Normally, she'd be making fun of her dad right now. Polo nudged her head with his chin. "Hey." He waited for her to look up at him. "What's up?"

He had a good idea, but he also knew she wouldn't talk about it without any prompting. Carla shrugged. "I was scared earlier," she finally said softly. "I shouldn't have yelled, but I was so mad about how reckless they were. Do you think it's bad? Like, what if Lu's ankle is fractured, or Guzman has some freak internal injury, and there I was yelling about his bird brain."

Polo tried to suppress his chuckle, but Carla still glared at him. "Don't laugh at me! If it's not bad, why is it taking so long? They've been gone for forever!"

Just as he was about to tell her there was probably a long wait time, they heard a car in the driveway. Carla jumped up when Guzman stepped out onto the terrace, then looked behind him at Lu - who was slowly hobbling out on crutches. Carla's face fell, but Lu talked over whatever she was going to say.

"It's not as bad as it looks!" she told them. "Just a sprain. The crutches are only because I'm not supposed to put any weight on my ankle. But the doctor said it should be fine if I ice it and put it up for two days."

"I offered to just carry her everywhere, but Begoña nixed that," Guzman said with a laugh.

Carla was visibly relieved. "But then what were you doing there for so long?"

"Well, the nurse made the mistake of telling Lu there was a minimal chance she'd end up with a small scar if she didn't get stitches on her arm, so then we obviously had to wait for the doctor to come back and stitch her up."

Lu loudly justified herself, Carla started giggling and Polo grinned at the eyeroll Guzman was throwing him.

Early the next morning, the adults took off for a day in Palma, so they had the house to themselves. They had breakfast in the media room, watching Clueless on the giant TV with the blinds down. "This is what happens when you let her choose the movie," Guzman had grumbled. "You just end up watching the same one over and over and over again."

But Polo could tell that his friend didn't really mind Lu's choice of movie. Hell, if she had wanted to watch The Little Mermaid, Guzman would've probably gone along with it. He'd carried Lu down the stairs over her shrieking protests in the morning, had made her the green smoothie she'd asked for and was fuzzing over her in all these small ways whenever he thought no one was looking. Polo knew it was because Guzman felt bad about what had happened. He also knew that if he told Guzman it wasn't his fault and that he had nothing he needed to make up for, he'd vehemently deny he was doing anything at all.

After the movie they went outside and splayed out on the chaises by the pool. They played some dumb cards-based drinking game for a bit but stopped before they got totally wasted. Then Guzman went to swim laps and Carla pulled her chaise next to Lu so they could talk about whatever it was they talked about. Polo had long given up on trying to figure that out. Now he was content dozing in the sun and hearing Carla laugh occasionally.

Polo realized he hadn't been this happy in a while, and it wasn't because he was buzzed on the wine from earlier. The sun was warming his skin, he could still faintly smell the mango scented sunscreen Lu had brought for all of them and Carla's giggle in his ear was better than any summer playlist he could've blasted on his phone. This was exactly what he'd had in mind when he had suggested to Carla they ask their parents whether Lu and Guzman could join on their week-long trip to Majorca. Had it not been for their friends, for example, he and Carla probably would've tagged along on the trip to Palma today, the third couple in their little group.

It wasn't just that he and Carla could be 15-year-olds and act like it with their friends instead of trailing behind their parents, pretending to be interested in architecture. Recently, Polo got the feeling every now and then that there was something missing between him and Carla. It didn't matter too much to him - even at their lowest, Polo would still be content to spend the rest of his life with Carla. He'd take the worst he had ever felt next to her over being without her any day. But if _he_ had picked up on the lack of… something in their relationship, Polo knew that Carla must have, too. And he didn't know whether she felt the same way. The thought of her being unhappy scared him.

So he had suggested their best friends come on vacation with them. It was basically physically impossible to get bored with Guzman and Lu around. The accident had been more excitement than he had signed up for, but other than that, the plan had worked out perfectly so far. When inviting them, Polo had considered the possibility that Lu and Guzman might also be fighting and yelling at each other for a good chunk of the trip. But he'd decided that he would be ok with that, too - usually Carla was more touchy-feely with him after comforting Lu, probably happy that he'd never dare to treat her the way Guzman sometimes acted toward Lu. So far, though, there had been no arguments, no need to comfort anyone. It had simply been a great trip.

Polo dozed off for a little bit and only woke up when he heard the girls shriek. Guzman had gotten out of the pool and was shaking his hair out like a wet dog, splashing them with water. Carla jumped up and ran to crouch down behind Polo. Lu had no way to escape and squealed when Guzman kneeled down on her chaise, straddling her legs and pinning down her arms.

"Gotcha." Guzman grinned. Lu tried to scoot up on the chaise but stopped moving when Guzman leaned down to kiss her. And moved his hand down to cup her ass. And groaned as Lu was pulling him closer. Polo knew he shouldn't still be staring but the way little droplets of water were running down Guzman's glistening side were too mesmerizing for him to look away. He could see the muscles in his best friend's arm contract as he was working on holding himself up while Lu was writhing underneath him.

Polo bit his lip until he could taste blood. He was mad at himself but he still couldn't stop. That was _Guzman_ he was staring at. What was wrong with him? Maybe asking their friends on this vacation hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Suddenly Lu seemed to remember where she was. Her eyes landed on Polo and she laughed. "What are you looking at, perv?" Polo snapped his head away so quickly he was sure it was going to give him whiplash. 

Carla scoffed. "Really? You two are doing it right there and _we_ are the pervs? Get a room."

She'd automatically included herself. Polo had never been so grateful.

Guzman picked Lu up and threw her over his shoulder. "We already got one! Good advice, though, thanks." Technically it was Carla and Lu, and Polo and Guzman who shared a room each, but neither Lu nor Guzman looked like they cared much about that detail right now.

Carla yelled after them with a faux-sweet grin on her face. "Hey Lu, remember not to put any weight on that ankle!" Lu just laughed and stuck out her tongue at them as Guzman carried her inside.

Polo was still tense, but smiled at Carla when she sat down next to him. She looked into his eyes questioningly. "Hey." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Don't let them make you uncomfortable, you know how they are." She kissed him briefly, then got up. "Can you put some more sunscreen on my back?"

Polo nodded. "Carla?" he called after her. She turned around. "I love you."

Her smile was brighter than the sun. "Love you too."

He slathered sunscreen on her back and then put on her favorite reggaeton playlist. They danced for a bit before they went into the pool. Guzman and Lu didn't come back outside for the rest of the afternoon, but Polo didn't even notice. Carla laughed more than she had in a long time and dozed off next to him as they were drying off in the sun. Good thing, too, Polo thought lying on the chaise with his arm around her. That way she couldn't see him grin like an idiot as he was playing with her hair and deeply inhaling the breeze coming over from the sea. The feeling of being lighter than air didn't leave him for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, this was going to be an exercise in pure fluff, and clearly I failed. Guess that confirms I am incapable of writing anything without at least a little angst and drama. But I'm still aiming for light here! Just teens on vacation.


	2. Lu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said this would mostly be a light, happy story? Good times! Guys, I don't know what happened. There's still some fluff in this chapter, but… blink and you'll miss it. I'm sorry, this somehow got away from me and then suddenly it was a lot sadder than it had any right to be. Nothing like getting overly emotional on a Saturday night. On that joyful note, here we go!

If Lu hadn't gotten a glimpse of Guzman's watch, they would've been late for dinner. This way, she managed to push him out of bed, corralled him into getting her the pink shift dress and her hair brush and put on clothes himself just in time. When he carried her down the stairs, they were greeted by Carla's wicked grin and raised eyebrows. But Lu was pretty sure that with how put together she and Guzman looked, the adults in the room had no way of knowing that he had made her come twice in the last 40 minutes, and that there was a bitemark on his shoulder from where she'd been trying to muffle her moans.

Beatriz had made it clear right when they had gotten to the house on their first day that they would all have dinner together every night. Carla, Polo, her and Guzman were free to do as they pleased all day, but at 7 pm, they all sat down at the large oak dining room table. Obviously none of the parents spent a single minute preparing dinner, but the staff that came with the house was sent home the minute they finished cooking so that Beatriz and Begoña could make a big production of carrying the serving dishes into the dining room themselves.

"You have to praise the food," Carla had told Lu and Guzman before they had even gotten on the plane. "Otherwise they'll be upset."

After they had gone on about how fresh the local bluefin tuna was for a sufficient amount of time, Begoña fixed Lu with a glare.

"So," Polo's mother said, "we need to talk about tomorrow."

 _Shit_. Lu had completely forgotten about the trip they had planned to hike some national park. Considering she couldn't even walk to the bathroom without crutches right now…

"Obviously Lucrecia can't come. I'm sorry you're missing it, dear, but there's just no way-"

"No no, don't worry about it, I'll be fine," Lu hurried to say. "I'll be by the pool icing my ankle and can't wait to see your photos."

Andrea smiled at her. "Well, you can't stay here by yourself, so I won't be going either."

When Lu opened her mouth to protest, Andrea waved her off. "It's really not a problem. Begoña and I already went to Cabrera a couple of years ago. We've talked about it. I'll stay with you."

Lu smiled weakly. Maybe Andrea really meant what she said, but from the looks that Begoña was giving her, it clearly _was_ a problem for her. Lu had just picked up her fork again when Guzman set his down with a clang.

"I'll stay, too!" he burst out.

"What?" Lu stared at him, aghast. "What are you talking about? Of course you're going."

"No, I want to stay with you, ok? It's just some park, and I know you'd get bored here all by yourself."

Guzman smiled at her with that stupid, stubborn, smug expression of his and Lu was ready to lose it.

"Just some park"? After Carla had told them they'd take a daytrip to Cabrera, the archipelago-cum-nature-reserve off the southern coast of Majorca, Guzman had read up on it. The next time they'd gone for pizza with Carla and Polo, he had not stopped talking about it, telling them about every last detail of that damn island so enthusiastically that he didn't even push Lu on why she was only moving the greasy slice around on her plate.

"And supposedly the Mediterranean is so clear on the way over that you can see all the way to the bottom, and the water is blue and green and turquoise, here, check this out-" he'd shown them pictures on his phone -"and if the boat your parents are renting takes about as long as the tourist ferry, we'll be out there at least an hour!" Lu had tried to smile. She got seasick if the water looked as smooth as a freshly ironed sheet. Something about not being able to control how the ground moved beneath her feet didn't sit right with her.

And now it was "just some park"? Lu knew with absolute certainty that this would fall back on her. Maybe right now Guzman felt like he should stay with her, be the good boyfriend after that stupid accident. Maybe he'd even still feel that way tomorrow night when looking at the others' photos, proud that he had done The Right Thing and hadn't abandoned her or whatever.

But sooner or later, it would turn from his decision not to go into her keeping him at the house. Lu didn't need a crystal ball to know that in some future fight, this would be used against her. Another point on Guzman's side of the score board, another thing he could hold up as proof for her being too clingy. If Guzman didn't go on this fucking trip tomorrow, she'd never hear the end of it.

Of course she couldn't tell him that. He'd flat-out deny it and they would simply be having a different fight. Lu was gripping her fork so tightly her knuckles went white. It was like she was watching a train rapidly approaching a boulder on the tracks without being able to do anything about the imminent derailment.

Lu looked over at Carla and Polo, flashing her best friend a look that was so obviously desperate she could just as well have held up a sign with neon letters spelling out "Help me!" But Carla had zoned out and was staring out the window. Lu wished she could afford the luxury of that level of Zen.

She had just given up and was trying her best to give Guzman a grateful smile when she heard Polo clear his throat.

"Dude, you should totally go," he said, trying and failing miserably to sound casual. Lu had to make a conscious effort not to let her mouth hang open. He got it. _Polo_ got it. "You've been talking so much about this, and I'm not that into nature anyway. Hey, mom, maybe we could even make beignets or something. It'll be fun."

There was some half-hearted mumbling from Guzman still, but Lu knew it was over. Polo sent her a quick smile, then went back to his tuna and nodded as his mom was excitedly rattling off what they'd need to get from the store tomorrow. Lu almost felt bad about how surprised she was. Apparently she had underestimated Polo this whole time.

***

At 7 the next morning Lu was barely awake enough to mumble "Have fun" when Carla quietly left their room. She promptly fell back asleep and woke up three hours later to laughter from downstairs. When she hobbled out onto the terrace, she saw Polo and Andrea chatting over empty plates, Andrea with a large coffee mug in hand.

The older woman jumped up as soon as she saw Lu. "Good morning, honey! Come, sit down, I'll get you some breakfast. What would you like? How about pancakes? I could also make some more scrambled eggs, but Polo finished the bacon."

Lu smiled. "Just some fruit for me. Do we still have oranges?"

"Are you sure?" Andrea sounded a little disappointed. "I could whip you up an omelet, too, or maybe-"

"Jeez, mom, she said fruit is fine," Polo interrupted. When his mom disappeared inside, he turned to look at Lu. "Sorry, she doesn't have the time to cook breakfast all that often, so she's going a little overboard." 

"Oh really?" Lu laughed. "I couldn't tell."

After breakfast Andrea suggested making the beignets right away, "before it gets so hot I don't want to stand by the stove anymore." Lu had more fun than she thought she would making the dough with Polo and Andrea. She dutifully hopped back inside 45 minutes later when Andrea called for them to fry the small squares of dough.

When it came to dusting the beignets Andrea fished out of the bubbling oil with powdered sugar, Lu found it a lot more amusing to attack Polo and sprinkle sugar all over his shirt. He feigned annoyance so well that Lu thought she'd misjudged for a second. But then he wrestled the sugar from her with an evil laugh and made it look like Lu had briefly stepped out into a snowstorm.

Thankfully Andrea didn't even pretend to scold them for the mess they had made. "My goodness," she laughed. "I have never seen you two be so silly."

No wonder, Lu thought. She would never in a million years behave like this around Guzman, and Carla and Polo basically turned into mini-adults when their parents were around. As a matter of fact, Lu hadn't known how fun Polo could be until today.

"Silly? Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about, mom," Polo said earnestly, turning the powdered sugar dispenser upside down over Lu's head. She shrieked, but he only had to take two large steps back to be safe, since she couldn't chase after him.

"This is so unfair!" Lu whined. 

Andrea snatched the sugar out of Polo's hand and put it back in the cupboard. "Ok, enough of that," she said. "Time to taste-test these masterpieces." She arranged the beignets on a plate and set it down in front of Lu. Polo stepped next to her and popped one into his mouth. The sounds he made as he chewed almost qualified as obscene to Lu's ears.

When Andrea asked her whether she didn't want to try one, Lu declined as politely as she could. Sure, making them had been fun. But her stomach churned at the thought of eating oily, fried dough squares. The amount of fat and sugar that one tiny beignet had to have made Lu's head spin.

"Are you sure?" Andrea pushed the plate further across the counter toward her and Lu felt trapped on her barstool. Her fingers were bunching up the blue chiffon of the wrap skirt she was wearing as she kept nodding. "I know you young girls are all about eating healthy today, but you made these! And you didn't really have breakfast, either. Here, what if I cut-" 

"Mom," Polo said in a warning tone. He rested his hand on Lu's arm, and she let go of her skirt. Andrea put her hands up and backed away. Lu was grateful, for how Polo had intervened and for how he stayed by her side for a couple of seconds until he could feel her relax. Then he took the plate of beignets and carried it into the living room.

"Wanna hang by the pool and try not to get burnt to a crisp?" he asked as he walked back into the kitchen.

Lu scoffed. "I don't burn, that's only you," she informed him.

"Ah, my mistake." He grinned. "You go ahead, Speedy Gonzales, I'll be out in a sec with drinks."

Half an hour later, Lu was thumbing through Vogue when Polo sat down on the chaise next to hers with a new ice pack for her. She handed him the magazine in exchange so she could wrap the ice pack in a towel and arrange it on her ankle. When she leaned back again, Polo was looking at a spread of men's suit jackets.

"I love the cut on this one," he told her, pointing to a Versace model.

Lu was impressed. In no time she found herself discussing menswear designers with Polo. Just when she thought he couldn't possibly surprise her any more in a single day, he nervously shifted on his chaise.

"I, uhm, I've actually done some design drawings myself. Would you… would you want to see them? They're not any good or anything, just-"

"Polo!" Lu realized she was shouting and adjusted her volume. "Are you fucking joking? Get them right now, of course I want to see!"

He returned with a sketchbook and a sheepish smile. "So, these are women's clothes actually, and I'm just dabbling, really, I've never actually shown this to anyone, so-"

"For the love of God." Lu pulled the sketchbook from his hand and opened it. Polo sat down on his chaise, then got up again and half sat down right next to her. Lu scooted to make room for him. When she turned around, his face was about five inches from her own.

"Ok, Polo?"

"Hm?"

"I really want to look at these, but it's not going to work if you're all up in my face."

"Right." Polo leaned back and nervously rubbed his left hand with the fingers of his right. "Sorry."

Lu wasn't a designer, but she'd like to think she knew fashion. And these designs were _good_. Polo had existed at the periphery of her life for the last two years, as long as she'd been friends with Carla, and had become part of her closest circle when she'd started dating Guzman. What other secret talents had he been hiding?

"Polo, these are really…" _impressive_ , Lu was going to say, but then she noticed something else that made the word die on her tongue. She turned back a page to be sure, then quickly thumbed through a couple of more. Yeah, there was no mistaking it: the model for all of the clothes in the drawings was Carla. Now that Lu had noticed, she didn't know how it hadn't been the first thing to jump out at her.

The adoration for Carla practically radiated off the page, the love obvious in every single stroke of the pen Polo had used to commit the curve of her chin, her lashes, her outstretched hands to paper. Lu didn't want to see any more, but she couldn't stop looking. She found herself getting angrier with every page she turned. She didn't see the clothes anymore that she had admired just a minute ago, only Carla, Carla, Carla.

It was like someone held up a mirror to her face. Lu could see herself so clearly she felt naked - not in the gorgeous drawings of Carla smiling, Carla looking off into the distance, Carla in profile. But in the person who had drawn her. When you loved someone this much, Lu had been made to understand, you were to keep it bottled up tightly. And yet here was tangible proof. No wonder Polo hadn't shown his sketches to anyone.

 _Pathetic!_ a voice in her head screamed.

Lu felt shame clawing at her insides. Even if Polo had never intended to share his designs with anyone - and really, what would the point of them be then? - this was too much _._

 _Why?_ the voice screamed. _This is what it looks like to love more. Don't act like you've never seen it._

Polo looked at her expectantly, his face open like that of a little boy. Lu had difficulty breathing.

She and Polo were the same. It wasn't like she hadn't understood that very soon after she'd fallen for Guzman so hard that it had knocked the breath out of her lungs. But she had been able to ignore it until Polo had shoved it right into her face.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Lu?" Polo carefully touched her arm, sounding genuinely concerned. "Are you ok?"

Lu opened her eyes and whipped around to look at him.

"Polito!" She smiled so wide it hurt her face. "These are… adorable. Wouldn't show them to Carla though, hm?"

Polo's face closed off and he snatched the sketchbook from her. Seeing the effects of her words gave Lu the distinct impression of having just kicked a puppy. It felt great.

"Hey!" she called after Polo, who had jumped up and started storming off.

"What?" he yelled, turning around.

"I changed my mind about the beignets," Lu said. "Why don't you bring me one, darling? Actually, make that two."

When he came back out a minute later, he looked her straight in the eye before he slammed down the plate piled high with all the beignets on the small table next to her chaise. "Enjoy."

***

Lu did not feel better by the time the others got home that night. On the contrary. As soon as she saw Guzman walk in the door, it was like her nerve endings were exposed and one careless touch by him would send her screaming.

He walked straight up to the couch she was sitting on and leaned down to kiss her. "Hey babe."

"Hey." She managed a short smile. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes!" His grin was wide as he dropped down on the couch next to her. Carla and Polo joined them. Seeing Polo put his arm around Carla's shoulder and absentmindedly play with her hair made the voice in Lu's head go off again like it had never stopped.

_PATHETIC!_

She pulled her hand away when Guzman tried to take it. If he noticed, he didn't acknowledge it.

"It was amazing," Guzman said. "The colors of the sea were insane, I don't think I've ever seen a blue this intense. And this path we took through the park…" Lu nodded and smiled without listening. She only returned to the conversation when she heard her name.

"… but oh my God, Lu, you would've hated it," Guzman said with a laugh. "The water was choppy on our way over, and then we had to hike uphill for like an hour, and it was so damn hot. At some point Carla's mom-"

"Good thing I didn't come then!" Her voice came out biting and petty, like a 12-year-old's. She hated herself for it, but it wasn't like she could take it back.

"Huh?" Guzman looked at her, confused.

"That's what you're saying, right? You're glad I wasn't there so you could have fun without me!"

Rational thought had left the building. Lu was aware of that, but everything she had managed to push down since seeing Polo's stupid sketchbook was bubbling up to the surface now. It gave her a sick sense of satisfaction to see it only took one push from her for Guzman to lash out.

"You know what, Lu? You're right! I'm glad you weren't there. I could actually enjoy myself instead of always looking over my shoulder, feeling responsible for you and then have you bitch about everything!"

"Fuck. You." Lu's eyes burnt, but she had gotten what she'd asked for. Not being able to storm off was really cramping her style, though. She opened her mouth to ask Carla for help, but the other girl was quicker. She handed her the crutches from behind the couch, then pushed Guzman's legs out of the way with a cold "Move."

As soon as Carla had closed the door to their room, Lu could feel the angry energy seep out of her. She sat on the bed shaking and when Carla came to hug her, she let her.

"He didn't mean that, Lu, he's just an ass," Carla said quietly. "Did…" she halted and looked at her from the side. "Did something happen today? Are you-"

"Don't!" It came out sharper than Lu had meant to. She took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok." Carla raised her eyebrows but didn't push it. They said next to each other in silence until Carla giggled. "You should've seen my dad pontificating about the local flora and fauna while hiking up that hill in the burning sun. I'm pretty sure my mom was ready to kill him."

Lu looked at her. Carla was offering a way out and she was more than willing to take it. "Really?"

Carla launched into a story, complete with reenacting her mother's various pissed off facial expressions, and Lu scooted down until her head was in Carla's lap. The two of them ended up laughing so hard they were crying.

Later, after Carla had gotten her two ibuprofens and another ice pack from downstairs, they watched an episode of Mexico's Next Topmodel on Lu's iPad while passing a bottle of Diet Coke back and forth. When they were brushing their teeth before going to bed, she smiled at Carla, and her best friend smiled back. Lu didn't have to say "thank you" out loud.

She was about to put on her pjs when she realized she wouldn't be able to fall asleep with how she'd left things with Guzman. The thought of facing him in the morning with him still mad at her made her feel sick.

For a split second the voice in Lu's head was back - _PATHETIC!_ \- but then she decided she was just being the bigger person. More mature. That was something to be proud of. She turned to Carla. "You wouldn't mind hanging out with Polo for a bit, would you?"

*** 

After adjusting her robe one last time, Lu hopped across the hall on her stupid crutches. She hadn't quite been able to hang on to the "bigger person" narrative for long. Just once, it would be nice for Guzman to be the one to apologize without being in the wrong. She wasn't in the wrong here, right? Lu didn't even know anymore. She just knew it was her, again, standing in front of his door, and not the other way around.

It doesn't matter, she told herself. Once Guzman saw her in the purple bra and matching lace panties she and Carla had picked out at Victoria's Secret last month, giggling like two grade schoolers, he wouldn't be able to keep the want off his face or his hands off of her.

She was right. When he first opened the door, Guzman rolled his eyes. He sat down on his bed w his arms crossed and watched as she sweetly asked Polo to give them a minute, then scoffed when the poor guy all but ran out the door. Lu's "I'm sorry" got nothing more than a shake of the head from him. But as soon as she took off her robe, all of Guzman’s annoyance disappeared.

"Wow, you look..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence. The awe in those three words, and in his eyes, hit Lu like a dopamine injection straight into her veins. Sure, they weren't the three words she still hoped to hear from him someday, but he desired her. _She_ had the upper hand here. There was nothing pathetic about that.

When he had her on her back three minutes later impatiently tugging on her bra clasp as he was smiling into her kiss, Lu was so high with pleasure that her mind had gone completely blank. No room for the voice in her head anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> … I'm sorry. I got juuust a little over-dramatic. What can I say. BUT if you're upset about the lack of Carla and/or Guzman, let me assure you that won't be an issue in the upcoming two chapters (for obvious reasons, lol).


	3. Carla

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're going to rewind a bit to see what Carla and Guzman were up to on their trip, before we move further along.

Carla was having a great day. The sun was beating down on their little group as they trudged up the mountain on Cabrera, sweat was running down her back - and she loved every minute of it. Once she and Guzman had managed to get far enough ahead of the adults to not hear her father's voice anymore, Carla could fully be in the moment. She had to focus all her energy on keeping her legs moving and not keeling over in the punishing heat, and it felt so _good_. Working towards a clear goal and knowing she'd only get there if she gave it all she got - fucking amazing.

Doing anything full speed ahead and making an effort - actually _having_ to make an effort, because it wasn't like the steep uphill path would just bend to her will - weren't exactly experiences that were part of Carla's daily life. Normally, her life was… pleasant? A constant stream of nice-enough that she'd never really had to work for. She didn't have to study all that hard for good grades, making friends came easy to her since people seemed to like her before they had finished shaking her hand for the first time and sure, she worked out sometimes when Lu didn't want to go to the gym alone, but it wasn't like Carla had to do much to stay in shape, something that she knew drove her best friend crazy.

Sometimes it felt like the volume was turned down too low on her life. Sure, she loved being drunk on champagne, laughing and dancing with Lu until they had to basically crawl back to their car because their feet hurt so much. Her heart fluttered like the protagonist's in a damn romance novel when Polo interrupted their study sessions every now and then to tell her out of nowhere that she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

But those were highlights in days that were so… same and predictable that Carla caught herself zoning out more and more often. And she knew that life could be more. She'd been in ballet class with Marina when they were younger and had seen what passion looked like first-hand - the way Marina completely lost herself when the music began and she just _danced_. But Carla never got there herself, and when it became clear that she wouldn't be among the best, her mom took her out of class. Carla didn't care enough about school to throw herself into it like Lu, either, study until she wasn't merely a good student but top of her class, feel pride or a sense of achievement over exceptional grades.

Carla huffed, annoyed that she had gotten stuck in her own head again when she should be enjoying this day. She tightened her ponytail and took a sip from her water bottle. Next to her, Guzman looked at her and smirked. "Need a break, marquesita?"

"No!" Carla hit his arm. Guzman only called her that when he wanted to irritate her, pretend like she was some delicate flower. "Why, do _you_ need one?"

Guzman tried to look offended, but the effect was ruined a little by sweat running into his eyes. Carla laughed.

"Ok," now Guzman was getting so worked up that Carla made a serious effort to stop giggling, "I work out way harder than this before swim meets on a weekly basis. _Your_ face looks halfway between a tomato and a blueberry. I was just trying to be nice."

Carla picked up the pace just to spite him. She could keep this up for a couple more minutes, and they were already able to see the peak a not-too-long distance ahead of them.

Both of them stopped talking on the last few meters. When they finally made it to the top, Carla felt like she was about a minute away from passing out cold - or hot, rather, why did they have to do this on the most sweltering day of their whole fucking vacation? - but the view was worth it. The sea was a deep azure and to the north Carla could see Majorca, hazy in the heat.

"Wow," she managed to get out quietly.

Guzman was bent over with his hands on his knees and let out a whoop that sounded more like a wheeze.

"We have about five minutes before my parents and Begoña get here," she told him. "Get yourself together so we can have some fun! I didn't trudge up here in 500-degree weather for nothing." No need to tell Guzman that she had actually enjoyed the hike from hell.

After overdramatically heaving out a couple more breaths, Guzman turned to her. "Fine. Fun. What did you have in mind? There's no way I'm taking Instagram pictures with you like this."

Why was that everyone's first reaction when she said she wanted to do something fun? Polo was the same, only that he'd usually sigh and hold his hand out for her phone. Carla decided to ignore the suggestion.

"Come here." She motioned for Guzman to stand next to her. He eyed her wearily as he walked over to where she was standing close to the edge of the cliff, the ocean so far down below they didn't hear the waves crash against the rock.

"We're not going to jump, right?" he asked her in a voice that sounded only half like he was joking.

Carla rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen. I'm going to count to three and then we're going to scream as loud as we can. Ready? One-"

"Nope, that's stupid," Guzman said, crossing his arms. "I'm out."

"Come on!" Carla threw her hands up. "Guzman, look around - there is literally no one here but us. And you don't have to pretend to be cool around me. I've seen you cry because you were afraid of the Power Rangers at Alex Maños' fifth birthday."

"You will never stop bringing that up, will you?" Guzman sighed. "Fine. On three."

Trying not to smile too triumphantly, Carla grabbed his hand. "One. Two. Three!"

Carla screamed so loud she could feel the sound reverberate in her chest. She stretched her arms above her head, pulling Guzman's hand up along with her own, never stopping the screaming. So _this_ was what it felt like to be alive. Carla wasn't sure she could ever stop. She definitely didn't want to.

Suddenly Guzman picked her up, took several steps back from the edge and started spinning her around. His laugh sounded not unlike that of the five-year-old with the big eyes after the pink Power Ranger had taken off her helmet and showed them some magic tricks, Carla thought. 

He only put her down when they heard a cough behind them. The three adults had made it to the top as well, her mom looking like she was ready to sit down on the ground and refuse to take another step. Her dad, however, was in good spirits.

"Oh, don't stop on our account!" he said with a wink. "Don't worry, we won't tell the other two how much you're enjoying yourselves without them."

Carla thought she might throw up at the sight of her dad's joviality and Begoña's pursed lips.

 _Really?_ she wanted to yell at Polo's mom. _Your son and I have been together for three years and you still think I'm going to drop him on a whim?_ It was absurd. As was her dad's sick idea she might still somehow end up with Guzman.

How her parents could pretty much plan out her life for her with Polo by her side while her dad was still miffed she hadn't gone for his godson remained a mystery to Carla. And her father wasn't exactly subtle with his preference either, from the expensive gifts Guzman received for his birthday to the way he rolled his eyes at Polo over dinner sometimes. And the other day, Carla had heard him complain to her mother how Guzman could do a lot better than Lu.

The giddiness she had felt just a minute ago seemed like a long-gone memory. From the hard set of Guzman's jaw, she could tell she wasn't alone. Carla had given up explaining to her father that what he wanted was never going to happen. She'd known Guzman for so long, the thought of getting close to him like that made her shudder. It would be like kissing her brother.

It took Carla the entire hike back down the mountain to calm down. Only when they were on the boat taking them home, on the upper deck, far away from the adults, she was able to smile again when Guzman pulled out his phone for "one last selfie for Lu and Polo!"

Who was the one obsessed with pictures here?

"You know," Carla said with a laugh, "if you asked Lu at the end of the week what the best part of this vacation was, and she'd have to answer honestly, she'd definitely say being thrown off the bike when you hit that rock."

"Because she didn't have to come on the hike today? Totally." Guzman didn't move from where he was stretched out in the sun.

Carla thought of the last day and a half. "Well, yeah. That and…" She hesitated. Did she really want to go there now, when she and Guzman had finally started to relax again after being accosted by her dad and Begoña?

"And what?" Now Guzman sat up.

"You haven't been this nice to her for a full day in… I don't know. Forever. You were really sweet actually-" here she heard him scoff - "and it's been great to see you guys like that. She's so happy and-" his face was closing off, she could see it even behind his Ray Bans - "and… yeah. I just think it's cool that you're… doing that," she ended lamely.

"First of all, you make it sound like I'm normally some giant asshole to Lu, and that's bullshit." Now the sunglasses came off, and Carla could see the indignant "I am being treated unfairly"-glare in his eyes that Guzman liked to wear. "And second, I haven't been doing anything different. So you're not making any sense."

Carla made a non-committal noise. They stretched out and were quiet for a little while, only chuckling when Guzman barely managed to save his glass from falling off the little table next to him after a particularly strong wave hit the boat. But now that she had started thinking about this, Carla couldn't turn her mind off anymore. _Don't_ , the rational part of her said. _It's none of your business. Just keep quiet and enjoy the sun. For the love of God, don't ask_ \- 

"Are you in love with Lu?" _Great_.

"What?"

"Are you in love with Lu?" Carla crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows expectantly. It had been a dumb idea to ask in the first place, but now that she had, she was committed to seeing it through. "Are you in love with Lu?" Carla asked for a third time. She couldn't stop a little snark from sneaking into her voice. "It's not that hard a question."

A couple of seconds passed, then Guzman was able to close his mouth and appeared to collect himself.

"Didn't you hear us yesterday? I'm pretty sure the sound of how much we loooved each other carried all the way out to the pool." He laughed, but Carla didn't even have to look at him to know it was fake. Too bad for Guzman that she was pretty hard to bullshit.

"Hilarious," she said dryly. "If you don't want to answer me you can just say so, you know?"

"Can I?" Guzman sat up again, clearly agitated. "Because I have a feeling you will not fucking shut up about this. Lu and I get along really well. We're great, she's great when she's not driving me crazy. What else do you want to hear? We have a lot of fun together, ok? Was that enough of an answer?"

"Yeah, of course." Carla stretched her legs out and poked Guzman in the side with her toes. "I'm sorry I asked. It's none of my business, got it."

Guzman grumbled but already grinned back at her. So no damage done there. Carla still felt sick to her stomach. She really was sorry she'd asked, but not for the reason she made Guzman believe. _We get along really well? We have a lot of fun together?_ Carla didn't believe her childhood friend to be cruel, so she had to assume he honestly didn't know how Lu felt about him. _Fuck_. She groaned inwardly. Why had she not been able to keep her mouth shut?

***

That night, after their return, the dumb fight and after Lu had decided to clear things up with Guzman, Carla was lying in bed with her head on Polo's chest. She hummed contently as he was combing her hair with his fingers. "You ok?" His voice was soft.

Carla nodded. "Yeah. Just… this is exhausting, you know?" She could feel Polo nod. "Maybe you could tell your best friend to not be such a jerk."

"Maybe _you_ could tell _your_ best friend to not be such a bitch," Polo replied without missing a beat.

Carla sat up and turned around to stare at Polo, who looked back at her wide-eyed.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry. I… I… I'm sorry, I did no- not mean that, I-" He was starting to stutter and Carla put her hand on his chest to calm him down.

"It's ok, you're ok." She was more baffled at his outburst than offended on her friend's behalf. "But do you want to tell me what happened today? Lu didn't want to say when I asked her earlier. Did you two fight?"

Polo was resolutely shaking his head, but Carla could tell he was lying. His eyes were an intense green, the emerald almost drowning out the small blue specks. They looked like that when he was hurt. "Did Lu say something to you? Do I need to go beat her up?" She tried out a small smile, but he didn't smile back. "I could take her, too, what with the crutches and all."

Finally, Polo chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her. "Nothing happened."

Fine. Carla wasn't going to push it. At least not tonight. Maybe when they got back home, she could talk to Polo about this without upsetting him. The last thing she wanted was to trigger his anxiety.

"Ok." She put her hand on his cheek. "I love you."

Polo didn't have to say it back every time for her to know that he loved her, too. There was nothing in life she was surer of. The ocean was blue, blood was red, Polo loved her, she loved him.

And most of the time, that was enough. But for the past few months, there had been moments, like when her mom casually asked where "you and Polo" would like to study, when Carla asked herself whether this was what she wanted for the rest of her life. The mere thought made her feel like a horrible person. It passed quickly, thankfully, but it always came back - as did the sensation of being on a train picking up speed that she couldn't get off of.

Of course Polo loved her. But did that mean she made him happy? It was probably an absurd question, and yet she was asking herself whether he still _wanted_ her. Carla would never voice any of those feelings, not to Lu and least of all to Polo, but she couldn't deny to herself that it hurt to have to wonder.

She hardly ever got the hunger from Polo anymore that she saw so clearly written all over Guzman’s face sometimes when he looked at Lu. Then again Polo also never stomped on her heart the way Guzman did on Lu’s every now and then, in passing, almost nonchalantly.

When Polo was hovering above her later that night, asking her with the kindest eyes what she wanted, Carla had to restrain herself from shaking him. "I don't want to have to tell you!" she thought. "I want you to just do something because _you_ want to. I want to feel desired, not adored. Sometimes, just sometimes, I want you so impatient that you come before you're fully inside of me."

Instead, she just hummed, mumbled "Oh, you know…" and pushed his head down between her legs.

There was so much love between the two of them - how was it possible to still have a creeping feeling of "is this really all there is?"

***

It was their penultimate night on Majorca, they were standing in the middle of the street and Lu was crying hysterically. Carla was so fucking over this bullshit that she would've marched back into the club to clock Guzman in the head if she didn't have to hold up Lu. With Lu finally off her crutches they had come to Palma to party. Carla had done the research and had picked a club that had a 16-And-Up Night every Thursday and Lu had flirted with the bouncer to get them in even though they were not in fact 16-and-up. And then to let them keep their IDs so they wouldn't need to collect them at midnight and leave because they were under 18. And then just for the hell of it. She'd been so shameless it had made Carla giggle.

Guzman had been visibly pissed, though, and abandoned them pretty much immediately to flirt with every other girl in the club. Lu had had a large amount of drinks in a short amount of time and when she had finally confronted Guzman, their conversation had turned into a shouting match right away.

Carla didn't know why she still agreed to go out with them, when about half their late-night adventures ended like this. Lu had stormed off after Guzman yelled at her that he was just having fun and that she should do the same instead of "trying to lock me up in whatever you think this is."

She had run out after Lu, and Polo came stumbling out a few minutes later. Carla waved, pointlessly - Lu's sobs were loud enough to make the strangers who were passing them in the street turn around. (To gape, of course, no one had asked whether they needed help. Not that these people could've done anything, but still - fuck them, Carla thought angrily.) 

But when she saw Polo jogging their way, she felt a tiny bit lighter. The night had gone to shit, but at least she wasn't alone in dealing with it. Polo briefly touched her shoulder, then went to put his arm around Lu. She whipped around so quickly that Carla was almost thrown flat on her ass.

"Get away from me!" Lu screamed. "Don't… Please, just… I don't…"

She was slurring her words, pushing at Polo's chest repeatedly. He stumbled backward, his arm still half-up, his mouth opening and closing without a sound. Carla had no idea what was happening, but now was clearly not the time to figure it out.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, she pulled Lu back, one arm around her waist and one hand on her arm, until the other girl turned around and buried her face in the crook of her neck again. Was this still about whatever happened the other day? Or maybe Polo was the enemy because he was a guy, or because he was Guzman's friend. Or, Carla thought, maybe it was just angry, heartbroken, very, very drunk Lu lashing out for no rational reason at all.

By the time she looked up again, Polo had taken a step back toward them. "I'm gonna head back inside to find Guzman, but I'm calling you a Cabify first," he said quietly. "I don't think we should ride back together."

Carla nodded. She sent him a small smile that she hoped conveyed how grateful she was. He smiled back before turning around and walking toward the club's entrance.

Lu would deny it tonight, and maybe tomorrow, too, but in the end, she'd go back to Guzman. She was incapable of stepping away. Carla had been through this enough times to know that. She sighed. The fact that she'd been jealous of the passion between Lu and Guzman when she knew the prize it came at so intimately seemed insane to her now.

Polo made her happy. He loved her and she loved him. Having that as the baseline of her life wasn't boring or restricting. It was a gift. Carla didn't know what she'd done to deserve it, but as she maneuvered Lu into the back of the Cabify that had just arrived, she vowed to appreciate it more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's been a while. Thanks to everyone who's still reading :) Except for one day-long burst of creativity that resulted in [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29088888), work got my brain so wiped out I haven't been able to sit down and write. I finally pep-talked myself back into it and decided to update this first before Close your eyes, because it seemed less daunting - which is funny, considering I'm not exactly an authority on Carla and I know many of you have written thousands and thousands of words about her. If that is you: I hope this holds up, haha.  
> I find getting into Guzman's head even harder, and I do want to return to my other multi-chapter as well, so the last chapter of this will probably be a while again. But it's coming!


	4. Guzman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this story didn't turn out as I had originally planned it. But then what does? There's more drama in this (surprise), but nothing life-changing. Maybe one day I'll manage to write something purely light and fun. In the meantime: Voilà!

Guzman smiled to himself as Polo was rushing to apologize to his mom. Begoña had come into the media room just as Polo had been about to beat Guzman in Mario Kart for the first time in more than an hour, and had started to chastise the boys for spending time inside with the blinds down, doing what they did almost every weekend at home in Madrid, too. Polo had tried not to get distracted, telling her to "go away, mom!"

Unfortunately for him, Luigi still ended up veering off the course and driving straight into the ocean, and Begoña was now giving him The Look. "That is not an acceptable tone of voice, Leopoldo."

Man, hearing Polo's full name never got old. Guzman coughed to cover up his laugh and studiously avoided raising his arms over his head in celebration when Mario crossed the finish line first. He'd celebrated enough the last 700 times he'd won anyway.

As quietly as he could, Guzman slid off his movie-theater-style recliner and took the long way out of the room, the one that allowed him to quietly sneak past Begoña's back. She wasn't as intimidating as his godfather, Guzman thought, but he still didn't feel like being subjected to one of her tirades. Let Polo deal with his mom. Why did adults always care so much about going outside, anyway? In his book, being on vacation meant the freedom to do whatever he wanted.

Guzman made his way onto the terrace and pulled out his phone. Marina had texted him last night saying she needed to talk to him. They had already been out in Palma when he saw her message and he had planned on calling her when they got home if it wasn't too late. But then Lu had made a scene and Guzman had been so pissed that he'd forgotten all about it by the time the Cabify had dropped him and Polo back off at the villa. 

He checked the time. It was past 11 am, Marina should be awake. The phone rang only twice before she picked up. "Ugh, please tell me you have a long time to talk, you're saving me from some stupid gardening thing mom wants us to do together."

Guzman tried not to sigh audibly. Over the past couple of months, Marina had gotten into more and more fights with their parents over the most minor issues. He had hoped that summer break would make things better, but so far, no luck.

"Mom just wants to hang out with you," he told her. "Can't you just-"

"Easy for you to say! Not all of us got to run off to Majorca as soon as school let out."

Now he couldn't hold back his sigh anymore. "Marina, you know mom and dad would have let you go away with friends as well, you just didn't ask."

"Right." He could hear Marina huff out a breath and drop onto what he assumed was her bed. Guzman closed his eyes and quietly banged his head against the back of the chair. _Damn it_. He knew that Marina didn't have that many friends anymore since they started high school, certainly not any she was close enough with to tag along on a family vacation.

"Sorry," he said quietly. The fact that he now spent more time with Carla than Marina did was still a sore subject. She claimed it didn't bother her that her and her former best friend had all but stopped talking after Carla had gotten close with Lu, but Guzman didn't believe that.

He didn't really know what to say, but Marina was intent on changing the subject, thankfully. "So, what are you up to, beach boy? Having fun with your girlfriend?"

Guzman knew he didn't have to hold back with Marina - she'd definitely be on his side with this. "Don't get me started," he groaned. "Lu is causing so much fucking drama right now. She embarrassed me last night when we were out in Palma and refused to speak to me this morning. Thank god Carla's mom is doing some girls day shopping… spa… thing with them today, I really don't want to see her right now."

Marina was snickering at the other end of the line.

"Are you laughing at me?" Guzman tried to sound mad, but Marina's laugh was one of his favorite sounds in the world.

"I'm sorry, but that is so your own fault for going out with her."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious." Guzman remembered his sister's text. "Hey, what did you want to tell me?"

But Marina had put the phone down. He could hear her call out "I'm talking to Guzman right now!" Then she picked it back up. "I swear to god, the fucking roses aren't going anywhere. Anyways. I was at Ander's last night and he told me-"

"That's great!" Guzman sat up straight, a grin spreading across his face. "What were you guys doing?"

He'd been subtly trying to get Marina and Ander to spend more time together all of last semester. One of his best friends and his sister going out would be awesome. Ander had never had a real girlfriend, Marina would be less alone and maybe he could even get Lu and Marina to play nice long enough for a double date.

For a moment he forgot how annoyed he still was with Lu. When they got home, he'd suggest the four of them go to Mama Lucia's together. No, that was too date-like when Marina and Ander weren't going out yet. Maybe get smoothies from that juice place that Lu liked! He'd have to ask her again what day they did the tropical specials and then they could-

"Calm down, Cupid, it wasn't a date, ok?" Marina was definitely rolling her eyes at him. Guzman could hear it.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Whatever. AS I WAS SAYING, I was at Ander's and guess what he heard from his mom? Las Encinas is letting in a scholarship student this fall!"

"Ok…" Guzman didn't really understand his sister's excitement.

"His name is Pablo, he's 17 and he's the son of one of the cooks in the cafeteria. Isn't that cool?"

"Why would that be cool? It's a new kid from god-knows-where that we don't know anything about."

"Wow, Guzman, you are such an ass." He heard the eyeroll again. "You didn't have a problem when Lu was the new kid from halfway across the world. Only this time it's someone who's not stuck up, with a rich mom and dad, but someone from the real world who could actually be interesting to talk to. Of course you wouldn't get that."

Guzman was about to protest - even though it was kind of the truth, he didn't get it - when he heard Marina jump to her feet, run across her room and throw open the door. "Oh my god, I told you I was on the phone! Why can you not leave me alone for one fucking minute?" She was yelling at their mom, whose reply Guzman couldn't hear. Then it was Marina again: "Great, I didn't want to do it anyway!"

He heard her slam the door shut. Before he could say anything, Marina was talking to him again. "Why is she like this?"

 _Fuck_. This was what his sister sounded like before angry tears spilled onto her cheeks.

"Marina-"

"I gotta get out of here, talk to you later."

"No, no, wait-" But it was too late. Marina had already hung up.

Guzman resisted the urge to throw his phone into the pool. For a second he wished he was home. Then that dumb idea evaporated. It wouldn't have made a damn difference if he'd been right there in the room with Marina. More and more often it seemed like they were speaking different languages - he didn't understand when Marina tried to tell him what upset her and she got mad when he explained that he loved her and so did their parents and no, he wasn't picking sides.

When had this gotten so hard? Not too long ago his sister had been the one person he could talk to about everything. Family dinners had been something Guzman used to look forward to, not dread. Now, he had to play peacekeeper 9 times out of 10. Whatever. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and told himself to think about something else. Marina and Ander! That was great news! He couldn't wait to hear what Polo would say about it. 

He wandered back into the media room with a wide grin. "So, did she ground you for being impolite? Take away your TV privileges or something?"

"Very funny," Polo muttered.

"Ah, come on, I was kidding." Guzman slapped his shoulder. "I'm sure you managed just fine. And I had to duck out to talk to Marina. Guess what she told me? She was at Ander's last night!"

"Are you still trying to make that happen?" Polo grinned, but he was clearly not showing the right level of enthusiasm. "Marina was probably just bored after being stuck at home for the last week. And Ander only made third at regionals yesterday, he texted me. I'm guessing he was grateful to see a friendly face after his father gave him the 'You could've done better' lecture."

This was getting ridiculous. Guzman felt like he had to do all the work by himself. "Polo, come on, are you really not getting this? Think about how cool it would be if Ander and Marina get together. Listen, if I talk to her and you talk to him, I'm sure we can-"

"Guzman." Polo interrupted him with a tone of confidence that stunned Guzman into silence. Polo himself seemed a bit surprised, because he didn't have a strong follow-up. "I just… uhm, think you shouldn't… Maybe don't meddle in other people's relationships, or, you know, non-relationships when you… When your own…"

 _Wow_. "What the fuck are you trying to say, Polo?"

His friend stared at his hands. "I just…" He took a deep breath, then looked up at Guzman. "It's just that sometimes you don't seem very happy with Lu. The way you two fought last night, it's not like that was a rare exception. And you didn't see her after what you said to her."

Guzman couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why is it always my fault when Lu and I fight? Why am I the bad guy? Huh? You know how she can be! I thought you were my best friend, not hers."

"I am!" Polo rushed to say. "I just, like, I understand how Lu feels and I think you…" His voice got quieter and quieter under Guzman's baffled stare until he stopped talking.

What kind of parallel universe had he walked into here? "No, please, if you have some sort of secret knowledge on my girlfriend, do tell me," Guzman said, his voice loud. This was ridiculous. He was pretty sure that Polo had never spent any time alone with Lu before this week. "Did Carla put you up to this? She's been on my ass about it, too. You know you don't have to do whatever she tells you to, right? Stand up for yourself every once in a while, Polo, fuck."

Guzman saw that Polo had started nervously bouncing his leg and felt bad about yelling at his friend. "Hey, why don't we go another round and forget about this? Maybe you'll finally manage to beat me this time."

Polo grinned and unpaused the game. He proceeded to actually win twice in a row because as hard as Guzman was trying not to think about what Polo had said, his words were still stuck in his head. Of course he was happy with Lu, most of the time at least. He hated the fake persona she sometimes put on or how bitchy she could be with Marina. Her expectations when it came to dumb things like birthday presents drove him crazy and all the very specific ideas she had of how they should act as a couple were a lot. 

But in the good moments with Lu, she made him feel like he didn't have to hold anything back, didn't have to try to be the perfect son, the understanding brother. No, being with Lu was like screaming into a storm while holding her hand, letting go of the brakes and going faster and faster until-

Guzman remembered what had happened when he had actually, physically done that, and winced. Lu could have gotten seriously hurt. But then he shook his head. He had decided not to feel bad about that anymore. _She_ had told him to do it. Lu was the strongest girl he knew. If she wanted to go full speed ahead without any regards for her safety, who was he to stop the fun?

***

His mother called around 6 pm. "Have you heard from Marina?" She sounded upset. "I know you two talked this morning and she stormed off right after and now she's been gone all day and she won't answer her phone and I-"

Guzman's stomach clenched. "Mom, I'm sure she's fine." He tried to sound reassuring, calm. "I haven't talked to her but I can try calling her in a minute. Have you checked On Pointe? Maybe she just went to blow off some steam and forgot the time. I know she always keeps a bag of her dance stuff at the studio."

"No, I called and Natasha said she hasn't seen her today. Honey, could you call her friends? You know better than me who she could be with." His mom's voice was getting faster and faster. "What if she doesn't come home by the time it gets dark? Your father is beside himself. He wants to call the police but I told him we can't do that yet, that we should wait. But if she doesn't come home tonight…"

If the police picked up Marina somewhere and took her home, she would never speak to their parents again, Guzman was sure of that. "Mom, don't call the police. You don't have to do that. Marina wouldn't go anywhere that's unsafe. I bet you she will walk in the door any minute, ok? Try to calm down, I'll let you know when I hear from her."

Guzman tried to call Marina as soon as he'd hung up with his mom, to no avail. He texted her ("Call me when you get this, mom and dad are going crazy") and then called Ander, who told him he hadn't seen or heard from her since yesterday. That was all he could do from 700 kilometers away.

He wasn't concerned that Marina could actually be in danger. But the thought that this was what his family had come to made him sick. And angry. He couldn't be gone for five minutes before Marina acted out like this?

The girls coming home and Lu throwing him angry glances did nothing to improve his mood. They sat down next to each other for dinner not too long after because those were the seats they had been in the entire week. Guzman ignored Lu just to piss her off. Two could play this game. "So Carla," he said pointedly. "Did you have fun in Palma today?"

He realized his façade wasn't as good as he'd thought when Andrea asked him halfway through the appetizer whether something was wrong. Lying was too much of an effort, maybe he could just brush this off quickly.

"Nah, not really. Just my mom, she called before dinner. My sister and her had a fight this morning and Marina stormed off. She just wanted to know whether I had heard from her." He could feel Lu looking at him. Polo sounded surprised when he asked why Guzman hadn't said anything.

"It really is a shame how much trouble your sister is causing your parents," Teodoro said with a click of his tongue, and Beatriz added "I just talked to Laura last week and she was at her wit's end."

Guzman tried to interject that it really wasn't just Marina's fault, but the adults seemed to have forgotten he had started this conversation in the first place. Carla's mom kept talking about how "impossible" Marina had become and Begoña leaned forward with a scandalized look on her face.

When Beatriz embellished a story that Guzman knew for a fact had not happened that way, he could feel his control slipping. "That's not true, Marina didn't do that," he said. No one paid him any mind, except for Lu, who reached out and touched his elbow.

The adults would not stop talking about his sister, and finally, Guzman snapped. "You're being unfair!" he yelled, banging his fist on the table. Ignoring the stares he was getting from everyone, he went on. "You have no idea what you're talking about! Marina is having a rough time and you're sitting there gossiping!"

Carla looked at him wide-eyed. She got as far as "I didn't know" in a whisper before her father cleared his throat. "We're going to excuse this emotional outburst because you were valiantly trying to defend your sister," he said, his cold gaze making Guzman feel small. "But I am hoping you're aware that this is no way to behave at the dinner table."

Neither is spreading lies about Marina, Guzman wanted to reply, but he knew when to shut up. He nodded and bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. There were a million things he wanted to say, but if he opened his mouth now, he'd either start shouting again, or crying. So he kept quiet. 

Hearing Lu's voice was so unexpected, it almost made him jump.

"I think what Guzman meant to say is that each family has their own problems that you couldn't understand if you didn't know the whole history behind them," Lu said in a measured way. "Now Beatriz, could you pass me the paella again? It is absolutely divine. Do you happen to know what spices they used?"

Carla's mom and Begoña got into a spirited discussion over the best kind of saffron in no time. Guzman was amazed - and glad that he and Lu were apparently not fighting anymore. He turned to her and sent her a small smile that she returned. Then she took his hand under the table, squeezed it and didn’t let go for the rest of the meal. The way her thumb kept drawing little circles on his knuckles was the only thing keeping Guzman from losing his mind. 

After what felt like an eternity, dinner was finally over. Guzman, Lu, Carla and Polo went into the media room to watch some action comedy that he knew Carla had picked out because she thought he'd like it. But Guzman couldn't really focus - he kept checking his phone. Halfway through the movie, Lu took it away from him and put it on the seat next to hers. He looked up at her. The affection in her eyes made warmth spread in his chest.

Suddenly the distance between their recliners was unacceptable to him - he needed her closer. Wordlessly he tugged on Lu's hand until she climbed into his lap and curled up so her head was right over his heart. Guzman buried his nose in her hair and breathed in. The worries in his head faded until they were nothing but background noise, and he could finally watch the movie.

When they went upstairs to go to bed later, he hung back. There was still one thing he needed to get off his chest.

"Hey Lu?" 

"Yes?" She turned to him quickly, her eyes wide. 

"Thank you."

Her face fell for the fraction of a second. She caught herself almost immediately, pressed a kiss to his cheek and replied "Of course" with a smile.

Guzman knew he hadn't imagined the look of disappointment in her eyes, but he didn’t get it. What had he done now? She’d been there for him and he was so grateful, saying thank you was a no-brainer. He could’ve sworn it was exactly what she’d wanted to hear, too. But somehow it was still wrong. And Lu would 100 percent deny she was unhappy with him because she could never just _say_ what bothered her.

Guzman let his head fall back. Being with Lu could be so much fun and he didn't know what he would do without her in situations like today. But it was exhausting, too. 

He had just slipped under the covers when his phone screen lit up with two messages in quick succession. The first was from his mom, telling him that Marina was back in one piece. The second was from Marina herself: "Home now, sorry you had to worry."

 _Thank god_. Guzman exhaled for what felt like the first time in hours. He texted Lu a quick "Marina's home" and smiled when she immediately replied with a single red heart. He put his phone back on the nightstand, turned around and was asleep within minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was… interesting for me to tackle. I had ideas for the other three in my head, but with Guzman- a big blank. Dude is hard to write! Marina isn't the most popular, I know, but their sibling relationship was a good entry-point into his character for me (said this only-child, lol), hence her appearance.  
> This is ALMOST the end, a short epilogue is still forthcoming.  
> If you want to chat about the goodness of pre-canon Elite, or anything else, come find me on [tumblr](https://carladuquette.tumblr.com)


	5. Epilogue

Polo couldn't believe it was their last night on Majorca already. The trip hadn't gone quite as he had expected, but he was still sad it was almost over. Guzman had been in a much better mood this morning; apparently Marina had made it home late last night after all.

A loud squeal made him look up. They were walking down to the beach with blankets and two bottles of wine that Carla had swiped "to make the sunset even more beautiful." Guzman was carrying Lu on his back and had just pretended to drop her. "Stop it!" She was laughing so hard Polo was surprised she could still hold on when Guzman started jogging down the path to the beach.

The sky was beginning to turn pink. Polo pulled Carla closer. They stopped to kiss, their friends' laughter growing softer in the distance. If he could stop time, Polo would freeze this very moment. Carla's soft lips on his, the breeze from the sea blowing her hair into her face and making her grin into his kiss. "Good trip?" he asked when they broke apart for air.

"Mmmh." Carla nodded with her eyes closed. "Great trip."

He pulled away to catch the bag that was about to slip off her shoulder, then adjusted the blankets in his arms.

"How did we end up with all of this?" Carla asked him in a mock-accusatory tone as they stepped off the path and into the sand.

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you really surprised?"

Their friends were by the water's edge, waving and calling out to them to hurry up.

Carla chuckled. "Good point."

Polo shook his head as he was laughing with Carla, but he really didn't mind. Nothing could weigh him down tonight.

***

Lu put on her brightest smile. "Come oooon, this is our last chance! Tomorrow we'll be back home wishing we'd done it."

Behind her, Guzman was already taking off his clothes. Of course he was down with her skinny-dipping idea. The glint in Carla's eyes said she was, too. Lu turned to the last one she still had to convince. "Polo, please?" She still wasn't entirely sure where they stood now. But Polo was part of her team. Lu only wanted to do this if they were all in it together.

His lips lifted up into the tiniest grin. "Ah, what the hell."

It was too early in the summer for the Mediterranean to still be warm at dusk and Lu shrieked as she ran into the waves. They'd been in the water for maybe ten minutes when Carla and Polo went back out onto the beach. Seeing Polo wrap Carla in a blanket made Lu smile. This, being so content in the moment that jealousy couldn't touch her, was something she wanted to take home to Madrid with her.

She felt Guzman's arms sneak around her from behind and his mouth on her neck a second later. "Come on," he whispered into her ear and pulled her further out into the sea. He walked backwards until she could only stand on her tiptoes anymore. The waves were crushing around them.

"What are you doing?" she asked him breathlessly, but she didn't really need him to answer. He hoisted her up and Lu wrapped her legs around him. Guzman's breathing was heavy. They both laughed when the waves were making it difficult for him to line himself up with her entrance, but once he pushed into her, Lu's laugh was replaced with a moan. Guzman turned them around so each wave spraying her back with saltwater pushed her further against him. She could see Carla and Polo in the distance and stifled her moans against Guzman's shoulder.

He pulled away and gave her one of the smiles that had first made her fall in love with him. "They can't hear you, Lu," he told her over the sounds of the waves. "You can let go."

With the next wave, Lu threw her head back. She had never felt this good in her entire life.

***

Carla grinned to herself. She was pretty sure Polo hadn't noticed what Lu and Guzman were up to - and she certainly wouldn't say anything. Seeing both her friends so happy again was the perfect ending to this vacation.

Later when they were sitting on their blankets, the girls leaning into each other framed by Polo and Guzman on either side, Carla felt herself get nostalgic for something that hadn't ended yet. They had finished the first bottle of wine and were passing the second one back and forth, but the plan that was forming in Carla's head had nothing to do with the alcohol.

"We should do this every summer," she announced. Three pairs of eyes were on her - well, two, Lu couldn't really turn around because Carla was still braiding her hair. "We should come back here every summer, the four of us," she clarified.

The sun had almost disappeared into the sea and bathed everything in a golden light. The idea of leaving felt absurd - making a promise to return was the only thing to make it bearable.

Polo scooted even closer to her and leaned his head against hers. "Of course," he said, like Carla had just stated that water was wet. "First week of summer break, the four of us, right back here."

"Next year and the year after that and the year after that," Lu said.

Guzman nodded solemnly.

Carla got even more excited when the continuation of this plan dawned on her. "Summer after graduation we'll all be 18!" Now Lu pulled away to look at her and Carla could tell her best friend knew where she was going with this. "We can come here without our parents then and rent a house ourselves. Just us!"

Polo pulled her face towards him and kissed her. "Can't wait."

The thought of the summers to come with her friends made Carla smile wider than she had in recent memory. 

***

Guzman stilled - as he was tipping his head back to get the last drop out of the wine bottle, something had occurred to him.

"You guys!" His friends looked at him expectantly. "Maybe by graduation, Marina and Ander will be a thing!"

Carla loudly said "Oh my God, Guzman," while Lu and Polo were giggling.

He talked over their laughter. "And then they could come, too! It'll be Marina's last summer before she moves to England, if she gets into Oxford. We'll break Ander out of tennis camp or something and then the six of us could all come here together."

Lu pulled him down to where her head had ended up in his lap and kissed him for so long that Carla cleared her throat. Lu rolled her eyes at her before she turned back to him.

"Bonbon," she told him as earnestly as she could while obviously tipsy. "Even if Ander and Marina aren't dating by the time we're seniors, they're still allowed to come, ok?"

That seemed fair. "Ok."

They stayed at the beach until the sun began to rise. Carla reminded them they had to be in their rooms before the adults came to wake them up, so her and Polo gathered up the blankets. Lu had fallen asleep and Guzman carefully got up with her in his arms.

By the time they got back to the house, Polo was basically sleepwalking. Guzman and Carla looked at each other and had to muffle their laughter.

"Hey, thanks for bringing us along," he whispered to her. "I hope I wasn't too much of a jerk."

Carla hit his arm. "Nah, all good. I'm glad you could come."

Me, too, Guzman thought. He already looked forward to next summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming on a trip with these kids. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing it :)


End file.
